Devices and methods for trapping and killing insects abound in the art and run the gamut from passive devices such as fly papers to the human-operated fly swatter to devices that are noisy and somewhat dangerous such as the electric insect killers that kill by electrocution.
Electrocution devices have several major drawbacks. Since most require fairly high voltages, the current carrying grid must be protected by an outside protective grille with such spacings as to limit the insertion of fingers and other such objects. This also limits the amount of UV light available to attract flies. The grille of an electrocution devices must be equipped with automatic power lock out devices to avoid inadvertent (or intentional) contact should they be opened or tampered with, since such devices are above UL standards for shock danger. Each electrocuted insect dies with a crack and a flash, which is both irritating and disrupting to conversation or other activities being conducted nearby. The insect itself is fragmented by the electrocution, which means that such devices can cause insect fragments to become air borne, which results in unsanitary conditions and irritation to persons in the immediate vicinity.
Chemical pesticides can be effectively employed for insect control. However, the use of chemical pesticides in non-residential areas where food is prepared or consumed is severely limited by governmental regulations.
One device, which utilizes a UV light source to attract flying insects, which then come into contact with a conductive grid, are stunned by an electric shock, and fall into a trap surrounding the device is disclosed by Grothaus et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,915, Trap for Houseflies, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,126, Method of Trapping Flying Insects. The device disclosed by Grothaus et al., however, lacks certain of the attractive and safety features of the present invention including the design of the grid of the present invention which is an improvement over the grid as disclosed in these patents.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for trapping and killing flies or similar flaying insects that is effective, quiet, clean, and safe.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus that first attracts flies or like insects, then stuns them electronically, and traps them so that they ultimately die.